Home – Home – Jornals – Humanitarian sciences in Siberia 2018 number

Over the decades, the Western scholars (mostly representatives of English- and German-language historiography) have been attempting to clarify the issue of possible alternative development of the Russian state and society during the pre-revolutionary period; to determine the causes of the collapse of monarchy and to identify factors that eventually led to the Bolsheviks’ rise to power. While focusing on the events in European Russia, Western historians have just recently turned to studying the social-political processes in the Asian periphery of the empire. The objective of the paper is to analyze the major works of Western authors on the history of social and political development of Siberia and the Russian Far East in the second half of the XIX - early XX centuries and to evaluate their contribution to the study of this topic. The paper shows that their research covers a wide range of issues, such as: the evolution of ideas and activities of members of the Siberian regionalist movement (S. Watrous, D. von Mohrenschildt, W. Foust et al.); the history of protest movement (M. Melancon, H. Reichman, D. Wolff); social and political processes in the region during the Russian Revolution of 1905 (E.-M. Stolberg, A. Wood, D. Dahlmann) and inter-revolutionary period (R. Snow et al.). The researchers draw on the theories of “frontier” (S. Watrous, E.-M. Stolberg et al.), “regionalism” (W. Faust) and “modernization” (D. Dahlmann), in the last decades - concepts relating to the “cultural and spatial turns” (S. Stuch) in historical science, “new imperial history” (D. Rainbow). The author proves that Western scholars specified and revised some conclusions of the Soviet historiography, in particular - better assessed the role of members of various social movements and political parties in the revolutionary events in the early XX century.

The article presents characteristics of contemporaries’ memoirs about Yeniseisk and its inhabitants in the second half of the XIX - early XX centuries. It examines not only works dedicated directly to Yeniseysk, but papers, where the town was mentioned. The author defines main types of memoiristics about the town: autobiographies, diaries, memoirs, travel notes; lists main authors of memoirs; determines their social and professional status. Memoires were written by citizens permanently or temporarily living in Yeniseysk or persons passing through it. They were representatives of different estates and various occupations: businessmen, officials, intellectuals and clergy. Many memoir works reflected specific features of Yeniseysk economic development. Practically all the memoirists touched upon the fateful role of the gold industry for the city, and its influencing various spheres of the town life. Often in the writings one can find statements about the negative role of the “gold rush” on the morality of the Yeniseysk citizens. A number of memoirs were local lore essays, where the author’s personal life had a secondary role. Their writers focused on the description of geographical features, living conditions, household and morals. The memoirists often touched upon the problems of town improvement, development of education and health care, cultural and social life of citizens. Many of the memoir writers gave a description and assessment of activities of Yeniseysk residents based on their own observations. The authors drew attention to the morals of local society and prospects for the development of the urban environment. Memoir works make it possible to observe different sides of everyday life of the town inhabitants. Studying memoirs will clarify and supplement many issues of the Siberian town history.

The study objective is to analyze the state policy in the field of church construction in the resettlement villages of Siberia in the regions of intensive peasant colonization. The study object is the nature, direction and mechanisms to implement government assistance to new settlers in satisfying their spiritual needs. The state activities in the sphere of church construction are considered in the context of socio-cultural and civilizational approaches. It allowed revealing the social significance of the church in the social life of peasant migrants. The institutional approach elements were used as scientific tools, - which allow considering the church not only as an instrument of ideology, but as an institution socially significant for the peasants and playing an important role in their daily life. Church construction is regarded as an important mechanism to adapt settlers in the colonized areas. The use of archival documents made it possible to prove that the initiators of churches and temples building were often peasant migrants themselves. The analysis of the state aid mechanisms in the sphere of church construction showed that during the period of the Siberian Railway Committee’s activity, the church construction in resettlement villages of Siberia was financed through charitable donations and departmental sources. During Stolypin’s reforms, the churches’ construction was carried out at the expense of the Synod and budgetary funds in the form of loans, which in 1913 were turned into non-repayable benefits. The archival materials analysis led to the conclusion that the state was not only concerned about immigrants of the Orthodox religion. Under the law on loans, funds were given to construct churches, quail houses and temples for Catholic immigrants, Lutherans and Old Believers as well. The author concludes about the state policy’s flexibility in satisfying spiritual needs of new settlers. The main scientific result of the work is the conclusion about the social character of government assistance to immigrant peasants in the field of church construction in Siberia at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries.

The article shows that the political instability and military confrontation during the Civil War in Russia contributed to destruction of an old administrative territorial system and emerging a new multi-level one, from regional “governments” to new “oblast” and “guberniya” (province) units. In the context of the crisis, the nature of political interactions of individual territories was spontaneous, but it was often based on the pre-revolutionary framework of regional socio-economic relations. The paper considers the history of creating Chelyabinsk district by the Temporary Siberian Government, which included large parts of Orenburg, Ufa and Perm provinces occupied by the Czechs and the local anti-Bolshevist rebels in summer of 1918. It shows the inconsistency of a view on the “military” nature of entering this area under the Siberian authorities’ jurisdiction, which in fact was the result of a wider and more complex interaction of various political forces and military circles of the non-Bolshevist camp, and was approved by the decisions of congresses with participating representatives of the peasantry, Cossacks and other population groups. The author reveals a significant role of the district government of prominent right-wing socialists in the political life of the East of Russia in summer and autumn of 1918; characterizes the process of forming district structures and their partial destruction after Kolchak’s coup d’etat, as well as the relationships between the civilian, military and Cossack authorities in South Ural and Transurals. The emergence of a strong political center in Chelyabinsk in 1918-1919 led to organizing Chelyabinsk gubernia (1919-1923), which is now known as Chelyabinsk oblast of Russia.

The article focuses on fluctuations (zigzags) of the Soviet church-state policy characterized by some degree of liberalization of relationship between the state and religious organizations. It describes the processes of 1923, 1930, 1943 and 1965. In particular, the author describes the government actions, which clearly marked the retreat at the “antireligious frontline” and events preceding a liberal “zigzag”, and defines the liberalization timeframes and meaningful limits. As a theoretical model for analyzing religious policy’s cyclic nature the author proposes the model of so-called “exaggeration”. In accordance with its algorithm the Stalin’s mobilization campaign was carried out. The conclusion is that after the paradigm change in the Soviet religious policy during the Great Patriotic War and a new course on creating new denominations in the form of “Soviet church”, confirmed by Brezhnev’s government, the model of “exaggeration” can be used as explanatory only with very serious limitations.

The article is devoted to a poorly studied problem of the healthcare system development in Novosibirsk Region at the turn of the 1930s-40s. During the period under study the Novosibirsk Region concentrated on its territory almost a half of the West Siberian population, significant production and agricultural resources. The paper is written on the archival sources, including those that were for the first time introduced into scientific circulation. The article shows the steady expansion of the medical network during this period, outstripping rates of development of rural medical institutions, anti-epidemic institutions, increasing the number of both doctors and nurses. These processes led to decreasing quality of work. At the same time, Novosibirsk health care experienced serious difficulties with material support: the lack of dishes, furniture and even food, low financing of the medical staff. The paper indicates a huge scale of the preventive work carried out in medical inpatient and outpatient clinics. This allowed the healthcare system to become part of the daily lives of citizens at that time. The author reveals some qualitative characteristics of this work; indicates that in the late 1930s the medical care was widespread in rural areas; presents the dynamics of acute infection incidences during the period under study; notes that there was a steady decline in spreading infections in pre-war years; concludes that this period became a qualitatively new stage in developing healthcare in Novosibirsk. The healthcare system improvement made it possible to bring the population health protection to a higher level, but its further development was prevented by the Great Patriotic war.

The article examines migrations of West Siberian population in 1950-1970. This region is of paramount importance for the national economy. Located in the geographical center of the country, West Siberia is a sparsely populated region experiencing a permanent shortage of labor resources. The author analyzes migration causes from villages to regional cities and from Siberia to other regions of the country based on statistical data obtained from the official territorial bodies of state statistics of regions within West Siberia at the moment of All-Union Population Census of 1959, and the materials of rural population surveys carried out by economic and statistical services during the period under study. The specific material shows the fallacy of the official policy of resettling “unpromising villages”, the belated development of the region as compared to the center areas of the country, and resulting negative consequences for the regional economy and demographic development. The paper considers the negative impact of migrations on the rural areas of the region, especially those under pressure of the administrative and power structures. In particular, it shows how the policy of enlarging villages contributed to decrease of rural residents, reducing the birth rate of the rural population and slowing down the mortality descension, including the infant mortality. The article analyzes data at a district level, which makes them unique for research, as they haven’t been considered and published from this perspective since the late 1920s. It analyzes motives that prompted the population to leave their native places and the size of migration outflow from West Siberia. The author used data of the statistical department, archival materials, publications previously intended only for official use by power structures.

The historical development of the countryin the post-revolutionary period is characterized by the active urban development processes. Cities’ intensive formation had a serious impact on demographic processes including population reproduction. Consequently, it is important to study relationships between the regional dynamics of urbanization and urban population mortality. The article objective is to investigate an average life expectancy in different regions. The research methods are statistical and mathematical ones; methodology of research is based on the urbanization transition theory. Due to evacuation of industrial enterprises during World War II the significance of regional centers in economics and population of Novosibirsk, Tomsk and Omsk regions increased considerably. Urbanization development in Kuzbass and Tyumen regions occurred according to another scenario, because of rich natural resources. It predetermined forming new industrial factories and settlements near them. The growth of cities was very fast, many new municipalities developed. In addition to regional centers several powerful industrial cities with a population of more than 100,000 people appeared. Multi-vector urbanization development in West Siberia impacted the regional dynamics of an average life expectancy. Regions with administrative centers’ domination showed the high level of education, large share of employees and office workers applied in the intellectual sphere with low rates of mortality. Flows of primarily low- and mid-skilled workers and low increase of employees’ share in Kusbass and Tyumen regions influenced the population mortality. The formation of industry took place in undeveloped areas, where there were many amenities of life. Altay region stands apart due to another way of urbanization development there. Thus, the research analysis showed a rather close correlation between mortality and urbanization, although the territorial spread of indicators was generally small.

Article is devoted to research of a creative life of a renowned Russian historian N. Ya. Gushchin. The author reconstructs Gushchin’s viewpoints in domestic historians’s disputes on collectivization. The author notices that in the 1960s Gushchin supported scientists who tried to revise the concept of “Short Course of VKP(b) history”. The historian considered collectivization as a part of objective process of the Soviet society genesis in contrast to the famous textbook on the Communist party history. Gushchin reflected this view in his candidate and doctor dissertations, books, as well as reviews of colleagues’ works. The author compares the historian’s points of view with works by F. S. Pestrikov, N. A. Ivnitsky, I. Ya. Trifonov and other researchers, and considers Gushchin’s views in a context of the agrarian historiography development.

The article analyzes the formation history and modern social practice of Novosibirsk academic town, the experience of institutions of the Siberian Branch of RAS and the public in preserving, studying, and presenting the scientific heritage. In 2014, Akademgorodok was officially recognized as an object of cultural heritage of the regional importance, a place of interest “Novosibirsk Akademgorodok”. In line with the innovative research trend of “mnemosophy” - the science of public memory - proposed by Tomislav S. Shola, the place of interest is presented as a form of public memory. New trends related to the correlation of heritage - identity - public memory problems were derived and studied in the framework of implementing the interdisciplinary scientific project “Modern trends in actualizing a historical experience of the identity formation in the Siberian region” by the Institute of History, SB RAS. The authors show that in Akademgorodok topos there are six socio-cultural complexes, which confirm the official status of Akademgorodok as a place of interest of the regional importance: museum, memorial-monumental, toponymical, intellectual-recreational, ecological complexes, and creative street-art-attractions. The scientific heritage representation in the museum units of academic institutions is the leading form of its actualization. Innovative forms are: thematic areas, spaces of free interpretation, interactive stands and creative installations in museum expositions. The prospects of interdisciplinary projects, IT-technologies, system and international partnership, training and recreational communications for implementing priority tasks of the “Strategy of Scientific and Technological Development of the Russian Federation” are shown as well.

The article characterizes the distribution of books for children and youth in the eastern regions of Russia. The study methodology is based on a combination of landscape-reconstructing principles, questionnaires, surveys and a comparative typological analysis. The children’s book takes a significant share in the assortment structure of all main channels: bookstores, represented by bookselling networks and independent shops; online stores; book departments of supermarkets (non-core retail); kiosks and stalls; book fairs. The joint retail network “Chitai-gorod”-“Bukvoed” has become the largest network book-selling enterprise in Russia by 2017. The children’s literature share in the book assortment of the network is about 23 %. The children’s book takes for 30 % in the book turnover of regional chains (“ProdaLit’”, Irkutsk, 1996, 50 stores; “Mirs”, Khabarovsk, 1992, 30 stores, etc.). Small independent bookselling companies: “Peremen” (Novosibirsk, 2014), “Baken” (Krasnoyarsk, 2013), “Fedormikhailovich”, “Korneiivanovich” (Krasnoyarsk, 2014-2016), “Kukulya” (Irkutsk, 2016), and others appeared in recent years. They offer an original children’s assortment and carry out various activities to promote children’s books. A block of children’s literature has a leading position (25,67 %) in the assortment map of the Internet-channel. The share of children’s literature in the book departments of hypermarkets increases annually and has become the largest (36,95 %) by 2016. Book-fair projects play a great importance in promoting children’s books in Siberia and the Far East. Most successful of them are Krasnoyarsk Fair of Book Culture (2007-2017), Irkutsk International Book Festival (2017), which are supported by the largest Russian sponsors. The article reveals key trends specific to the markets of the children’s book in the Siberian-Far Eastern region.

The article is devoted to the actual problem of modernity, the study of publishing strategies existing at the book market. The author considers various interpretations of the term “strategy”, gives its own understanding of the term “publishing strategy”; determines the main elements of the publishing; describes existing classifications of publishing strategies proposed by modern scholars and practitioners. The paper considers the publishing strategies of existing publishing enterprises introduced and adapted to the market conditions. The characteristic features and advantages of each of them are determined. It emphasizes that various factors (economic, territorial, general cultural, technological, etc.) have an impact on elaborating a strategy for development of a publishing organization. The author analyzes how the mono-centrism influenced the formation of behavior patterns of regional publishing houses at the book market; reveals the regional book market specificity reflecting possible options for its future development based on the generalization of essential characteristics of the publishing strategies.

The article analyzes the place of Siberian journalists among the regional intelligentsia of Siberia in the second half of XIX - early XX centuries based on sources of personal origin. The historiography of the issue includes studies on the history of local intelligentsia, Siberian journalism, as well as works reflecting the activities of certain members of intelligentsia in the periodical press. Accepting the researchers’ conclusions, the author notes that representatives of local intelligentsia, namely teachers, doctors, lawyers, officials, artists, fell into the ranks of journalists. At the same time, journalists belonged to other professional groups, which was a characteristic feature of the local press. Journalists contributed to forming social and political views of the reading public, constructing a picture of the world and a system of values. Their task was to study the region, to identify its “imperfections”, as well as to find possible ways to transform the local life. Journalists uncovered the arbitrariness of the administrative apparatus, and linked the local society to Russia and Europe through publishing news in newspapers. The periodicals were a platform for joint activities of journalists and intellectuals. Their editors invited representatives of the society’s educated layers to cooperate that allowed readers to acquaint with the texts of various thematic areas. Journalists developed behavioral strategies with the authorities like the Governor or censors in order to approve the edition’s direction and to save it. Through the communicative practices, the members of the press acted as intellectual leaders, initiated organizing cultural institutions, bringing together local intellectuals.

The article is written in the framework of the research area of intellectual history. The author deconstructs the image of Akim Volynsky, a philosopher, literary and theatrical critic, “fighter for idealism”, presented in ego-texts by L.Ya. Gurevich, a publisher of “Severnyy Vestnik (The Northern Herald)”. Gurevich creates his image as an intellectual, highlighting the following features: philosophical education, merciless mind, and ascetic way of life. Lubov’ Gurevich describes Volynsky as a demiurge who formed her personality, put her on firm ground, and disclosed a purpose in life. She describes Volynsky in her memoirs as an indisputable intellectual, her mentor at her early professional activity, and a leader who failed to become an intellectual mastermind for the whole Russian reading audience. Probably, Gurevich wanted to create the image of Volynsky, which she considered necessary to preserve in history. Gurevich regarded the debates in press between Akim Volynsky and Nikolay Mikhailovsky as a battle for the future of the Russian literature. The confrontation between the two journalists had seriously harmed Volynsky’s reputation. It should be noted that both Volynsky’s critical articles and his conflict with Mikhailovsky, “a thought leader” in Alexandra Davydova’s salon, divided the adherents of these two literary figures into various literary salons and worldviews camps. Initially, A. Volynsky and A. Davydova’s salon were a guide in “the world of young literature” for L. Gurevich. After the final break of A. Volynsky, the editor of “Severnyy Vestnik”, with N. Mikhailovsky, the journal editorial board at first became the center of the circle of Volynsky’s supporters, and then this role was played by jour fixe organized by L. Gurevich. Besides published sources, the author used letters by Lubov’ Gurevich, Yakov Gurevich and Akim Volynsky stored in Gurevich’s fond at the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art.

The article is devoted to the veterinary care of the Russian army during the First World War (1914-1917). The horse corps’ quality in the army was an important part of the military activities of the Russian troops. The cavalry, military baggages of infantry units, the artillery unit, horse-drawn vehicles of the nearest rear - all these horses needed veterinary care. An integral part of such care was animals’ treatment, bringing them up to necessary conditions to serve in the armed forces and epidemics prevention. Therefore, the veterinary unit of the front needed skilled doctors and paramedics, as well as the material equipment of veterinary facilities. A significant number of cavalry formations in the troops and the massive use of horses as transportation required veterinary care. Horses suffered from injuries, malnutrition, illnesses and sometimes epidemics in military terms. Military vets were responsible for struggling such phenomena, they performed their duty in spite of the constant staff shortage. As the war dragged on, a coherent system of veterinary services was built up in the Russian army allowing timely treatment of animals, as well as carrying out preventive works. In addition to horse units of the army, military veterinarians were responsible for maintaining cattle supplied for the troop allowance. Various animals were transported to the front alive, for example, cattle, sheep, and pigs. Most of them were sent to the military expenditure droves, where there was a veterinary examination, necessary treatment and slaughter. Preventing diseases of animals intended for slaughter was an important task of the veterinary service. Purchases of foreign livestock for the army in various Asian countries exacerbated the fight against epizootics through vaccination. In general, the veterinary and sanitary supervision was carried out quite successfully complicated only by the lack of necessary people, food for animals, transport facilities. However, the dedicated work of the military veterinarians supported by the rare efforts managed to prevent mass disease and death of horses and cattle at the front during the war. It greatly contributed to the success of military operations.

The article objective is to determine the content and direction of the USSR’s regional policy towards the Urals and Siberia during the early 1920s by the example of Ishim district (uezd) in the light of the regionalization processes of the state administrative and territorial structure. It assesses possibilities of the two competing regions to provide conditions for the territory development and population support. The paper’s main conclusions explain the reasons for preserving the district in the Urals region and its further place in the territorial structure of Russia. The work was carried out based on the principles of historicism, objectivity and systemic nature, permitting to consider the regional policy of the USSR in relation to the Urals and Siberia in the process of its formation and development, to evaluate the role and significance of a particular disputed territory in the process of registering the boundaries of the Soviet Russia’s regions. The general theoretic-conceptual basis of the article is the modernization theory, which offers an objective view to study the features of Russia’s development in the XX century. In particular, the role of regional policy as a set of solutions for transforming the country’s territorial and economic structure is related to progressive changes in all spheres of the society’s life, which are among the most important modernization tasks. The research was carried out with the help of special methods as well: a historical-system method - to consider the Ishim district as an object of regional policy in the integrated unity of its constituent branches and interacting with neighboring territories; a historical comparative method - to compare the goals and objectives of the studied areas and districts set by both the Soviet government and the Ural-Siberian authorities. The main result is implementing a comprehensive historical study of a separate economically specialized district (Ishim district) in the context of the Soviet regional policy of zoning in the early 1920s involving previously unused sources and their introduction into scientific circulation.

The article considers reasons, course and outcomes of liquidation of concession “Lena Goldfields Ltd” by means of the general strike at its Siberian enterprises in 1930. The English company, working on the Lena gold mines before the October Revolution, and having the opportunity to continue this activity according to an agreement with the Soviet government in 1925, compiled with the basic terms of the agreement on gold mining in Siberia. Despite the existing contradictions and disagreements between the Soviet government and concessional administration, all conflicts were reconciled by finding compromises until 1929. The government ceased to consider the concession as necessary for the economic growth after sharp changes of political and economic conjuncture in 1929-1930, and their interaction turned to a destructive phase. The concessional enterprises in Bodaibo district were subjected to searches by the Joint State Political Directorate, which withdrew the business documents, arrested employees. Newspapers “Pravda” and “Soviet Siberia” published articles criticizing “Lena Goldfields” and pointing multiple violations of the concessional contract terms. The Soviet government didn’t respond to the written applications of the Board of Concession about its future fate, all foreign citizens among the workers and employees of the concession received an order to leave the USSR territory. Naturally, there was no talk of any payments to the Soviet workers of “Lena”. Since spring of 1930, salaries had not been paid, later problems with goods and food delivery began. The proceedings moved to the arbitration in London, and meanwhile (late May - early June of 1930) all the Soviet workers of “Lena” mines declared the general strike. The general strike was a necessary means in the matter of the legal substantiation to transfer gold mines under the state control. The strike committee of Bodaibo district had been created. It led “the fight” of the working class against the foreign capital. As a result of the general strike of 1930 sanctioned by political forces, not by trade unions, all enterprises of “Lena Goldfields” practically came under the government’s control in August 1930.

The article objective is to study the problems of agrarian development of Kulunda steppe, a region constantly subjected to severe droughts, in the 1930s. The situation was aggravated by the government procurement policy, according to which resources necessary for agrarian development were withdrawn. Several years of drought forced searching new methods of avoiding its damage, both at central and regional levels. In 1932, the West Siberian Territorial Administration (Krayzemupravlenie) proposed to the party’s regional committee a project of Kulunda steppe melioration. It was planned to build a dam near the town of Kamen’ and a canal network to irrigate arid regions. Due to inability to implement the project in coming years, regional authorities were looking for alternative ways to solve the problem. After a several arid years, regional authorities decided to offer the central government a new plan of Kulunda’s agricultural development based on the complex agrotechnical measures without considering land reclamation. References to the impossibility of fighting the drought without creating an irrigation system were declared as “kulak agitation”. This conclusion was based on the opinion of district authorities to reduce the sowing and harvesting plans because of unfavorable weather and climate conditions. Nevertheless, despite the actual prohibition, region’s leaders continued to appeal to the central government regarding the creation of irrigation systems. The problem of drought and low harvests in the 1930s was not solved. The project to create an irrigation network was developed further in the postwar years. The construction of Kulunda main canal began in 1973-1983. Thus, projects of 1930s on Kulunda agricultural development were realized in the late Soviet period.

The article describes in detail the activities of V. F. Voyno-Yasenetsky, a surgeon-consultant, performed against the background of advisory work in evacuation hospitals in the city of Krasnoyarsk and the Krasnoyarsk Krai in 1941-1942. It shows principles and features of medical consultants and V.F. Voyno-Yasenetsky work, as well as the actual content of the advisory work under conditions of acute shortage of qualified personnel and a large flow of wounded patients from the front during the first years of the Great Patriotic war. The paper notes difficulties to solve the problems of organising timely counselling of the wounded soldiers and officers. It highlights the specific features of activities of V.F. Voyno-Yasenetsky, who played an exceptional and key role in arranging a qualified and life-saving advisory work given to the medical personnel and the seriously injured persons entered the Krasnoyarsk hospitals by military-sanitary echelons in 1941-1942. The study objective is to describe and analyze activities of V.F. Voyno-Yasenetsky, a surgeon-consultant, in the field of continuous and systematic work led by consultant doctors at the evacuation hospitals of the city of Krasnoyarsk and the Krasnoyarsk Krai. The author provides evidence of a very special role played by Professor V.F. Voyno-Yasenetsky, without whom the advisory work of Krasnoyarsk doctors would not be so effective. In addition, he corrects a significant error in the report of Krasnoyarsk Regional Department of Health claiming that surgeons-consultants did not work in hospitals of Krasnoyarsk city, but consulted only in regional hospitals. The extant lists of consultations carried out by surgeon V.F. Voyno-Yasenetsky in the hospitals of Krasnoyarsk city refuted this statement. The author considers that owing to Valentin Feliksovich and other surgeons-consultants, the wounded soldiers and officers’ mortality rate was low in the hospitals of both the city and the region.